29: Tricks for Getting Food on the Table with 3 Active Boys with Katie Fields, RD, CDE

In this episode, Sarah and Katie discuss the challenges and strategies of feeding an active family. They discuss meal planning, dealing with selective eaters, and the importance of balancing nutrition with the realities of busy family life (including the challenges of feeding a child with cystic fibrosis). 

Katie shares her insights on increasing caloric intake for children, the emotional aspects of feeding kids, and the support available for caregivers of children with chronic illnesses. 

Key topics discussed:

• Tips for balancing family life and nutrition, especially with active children.
• How to handle selective eating and what to do or offer instead
• Strategies for increasing calories and healthy fats for cystic fibrosis
• How parents and caregivers of children with chronic illnesses can find support groups 
• How to make mealtime more enjoyable
• Staple convenience foods that she relies on for active boys

Chapters

• 2:56 Balancing Family Life and Nutrition
• 5:42 Meal Planning Strategies for Busy Families
• 8:10 Navigating Selective Eating in Children
• 10:33 Understanding Cystic Fibrosis and Nutrition
• 13:19 Strategies for Increasing Caloric Intake
• 15:56 Creative Ways to Add Healthy Fats
• 18:32 Final Thoughts on Feeding Kids
• 20:25 Navigating Snack Preferences in Children
• 25:27 Strategies for Feeding Children with Chronic Conditions
• 30:02 Balancing Family Meals and Busy Schedules
• 35:50 Embracing Convenience in Family Nutrition

Transcript

Sarah Schlichter (00:47)
Welcome back to the podcast, everyone. We have a fun guest today, and this is actually one I could have recorded in person. So our guest today is Katie Fields, and I'm gonna go ahead and let her introduce herself, but we are located not too far from each other. So Katie, why don't you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and your family?

Katherine Fields (01:06)
Hi, Sarah. Thanks so much for having me. My name is Katie Fields. I'm a registered dietitian. I currently work in the outpatient world. My specialty lies in diabetes. I'm a certified diabetes educator. So for the last 10 to 13 years, have been working in that realm. But I also happen to have a husband and three boys, the oldest of which is nine and my youngest is four.

So life is pretty crazy as I'm sure you can relate. So we're just trying to get through the sports seasons, getting through life right now. I mean, it's insane. Looking forward to Christmas breaks. How many days is that until all that coming? Right. That's actually the hard part. Yeah. So things are slowing down a little bit, but. ⁓

Sarah Schlichter (01:45)
countdown is on. Halloween's behind us now so I feel like it's a little more new now.

Katherine Fields (01:55)
I'm excited to be here and excited to share and just dabble in this information.

Sarah Schlichter (02:00)
so Katie and I actually met a year and a half ago, the spring of 2024, and her husband and I coached T-ball together. So our kids played on the same T-ball team and then come to find out Katie's a dietician, I'm a dietician, and we were talking offline before we hit record and she said, I never see dieticians in the wild. And it's so true unless you're at like a pointed event or conference with other dieticians, you don't usually just run into them and

Katherine Fields (02:20)
No.

Sarah Schlichter (02:28)
randomly meet.

Katherine Fields (02:29)
Right, it was meant to be, Sarah.

Sarah Schlichter (02:30)
It was, it was, it was so special. and all the, kids are very similar ages. She's got three boys, three active boys. So I'm really looking forward to hearing your tips for feeding them and what that looks like. So I guess we can start with, so you said your oldest is nine, youngest is four. What kind of sports and activities are they in right now? And is there a typical day?

Katherine Fields (02:36)
Mm-hmm.

Sure. So we just wrapped up baseball and soccer for the older two. my youngest son, he just did a little soccer clinic. So that was very low commitment once a week. That was the easiest and nicest of them all. But we had practices most nights of the week and then half days on Saturdays. So a lot going on. So trying to squeeze in eating among that for three very hungry boys.

was interesting, but I feel like we're getting better at it. It takes a lot of practice and you have to keep working at it. So we are getting ready to start a new season of basketball. We thought that we were going to be free for the winter. They didn't seem like they cared to play anything and we were okay with that. We're like, let's take a break, right? But the older two have both decided they want to play basketball and they are going to be on different teams. We're waiting to get that schedule

So it could mean every night of the week something is going on. Not quite ready for it yet, but it's happening.

Sarah Schlichter (03:49)
feel like the anticipation

before the schedule comes out is very stressful because you can't plan, like, what nights am I cooking? What nights are we on the go? You just don't, and are they gonna have practice the same day, the same night? You just don't know yet.

Katherine Fields (03:54)
It is.

Right,

you hope so. You hope that you could get it all done at the same time, right? So then you can free up some days during the week, but we shall see.

Sarah Schlichter (04:06)
Thank you.

So are you a meal planner by nature or are you someone who just kind of wings it each week?

Katherine Fields (04:16)
I would like to be better at meal planning. I go in with those intentions and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. I think I'm better at making sure I have certain items in the fridge at all times and then basting meals off of that. We definitely have our family favorites, things I know my kids will eat, things I know that are a quick make, especially on those busy nights, right?

So I think I go in with the intention of meal planning, getting the ingredients, whether it ends up being those exact meals might be a different story.

Sarah Schlichter (04:49)
what are some of those ingredients, I guess that are staples for you that you might base meals off of each week?

Katherine Fields (04:55)
So we always have pasta in the house, right? That's always available. We usually get a rotisserie chicken at least once a week ⁓ so that we can pull off that for meals. Whether it's me making chicken salad from that, whether it's me, throwing it on a sandwich for somebody. My husband taking it for lunch. I just know we always have that as an option. There are always frozen veggies in the freezer, frozen fruit in the freezer.

pasta sauces, else? Hummus. Luckily all three of my kids really love hummus and I feel like that's a very easy grab for us. Costco, you can get the hummus cups if you've ever seen those. So those go in lunches, those are snacks after school, those might go to sports with us. Those are definitely the big ones in the house. I think...

One of the harder things for me, I don't know about you, is remembering to get meat out of the freezer. Right? It is such a struggle. That might be part of my meal planning, right? My meal, when I went to the grocery store, I bought three different types of meats. Maybe they're frozen because we got them in bulk at Costco. So I go into the day with the best intentions. It's lunchtime and it's shoot.

Sarah Schlichter (05:48)
Such a real struggle.

Katherine Fields (06:06)
I didn't lay that chicken out or, know, that to me is the thing that I struggle with the most. It's getting better, but I think it's nice to hear somebody else struggles with that too.

Sarah Schlichter (06:15)
yeah, I mean it's, I feel like that sounds so simple, but if that's the basis of your meal and our dog we mix ground beef in her meals and I'm, you know, cooking a pound a couple times a week for her and so many times I've forgotten to thaw it so I'm like running it through a bowl of warm water to thaw or just cooking it frozen for her and then just like, had I remembered to do this last night, like just think the night before, this would be so much easier.

Katherine Fields (06:32)
Right.

Yes.

100%.

Sarah Schlichter (06:42)
So are your boys, Do they have a similar eating style? Are some more selective than others? Or what does that look?

Katherine Fields (06:48)
Yeah, very,

very good question. My nine-year-old has become very adventurous, I would say, over the last year, which is making my life a lot easier. It used to be, every meal I made was, is this something that the kids are going to eat? You know? And now it's, I know that 99 % of the time he will probably eat it and most likely enjoy it.

And that's a good feeling for me, It's always a struggle with kids. So when you finally get to a point of, hey, you know, I'll try whatever it is and most likely I'm going to like it, that's making your life easier. My middle son, he was the baby as many are that ate absolutely everything. know, people would say, he's eating chickpeas. He's eating, I don't know, whatever it was, anything and everything. And then got more selective as time went on,

He likes a lot of different things, however, he doesn't eat a lot. So we're always trying to make the most of his meals. He could, I'm pretty sure, live off of fruit and hummus and be quite happy. But he is very active. He is going to be seven years old soon. So I'm always like, he needs more nutrition. So luckily he likes peanut butter a lot. So we find a lot

ways to incorporate peanut butter in. There are a lot of foods he likes. He's just not as adventurous as my older one. And then my youngest one, he is by far the most selective

the point where if somebody is eating something that he doesn't like the looks of or specifically the smell of, he doesn't even want to be at the table with it. So there's that battle.

for sure. Yeah, he's definitely the most challenging and we go through stages with him. know, every day is a different challenge with that. It's getting a little bit better, I think. I think as he watches his brothers get more adventurous, he's aware of that and he wants to be like his brother. So I do think he tries. I'm seeing of him, you know, him more watching them and trying things that they're trying.

usually doesn't go past his tongue, but he's trying. And we try very hard not to make a big deal about it ⁓ or put any sort of pressure on it. Sometimes we'll see him put something in his mouth and my husband and I will catch each other's eye and we're like, ⁓ is this really happening right now? But we don't make a big deal about it. But he's definitely the most selective. So we have to be very creative.

Sarah Schlichter (09:02)
I'm going change places.

Katherine Fields (09:12)
in finding ways to get him to eat things. ⁓ That being said, he actually was born with a genetic disease called cystic fibrosis. So I don't know if you're familiar with cystic fibrosis but for those people that don't know in the simplest terms, what it is, is it is a disease that causes the body to make this ⁓ thick, sticky mucus. And that mucus affects the lungs, the pancreas, the GI tract,

among other organs as well. But when we're talking about the pancreas, the pancreas's job is to release enzymes when we eat to help break down protein, fat, and carbohydrates. So because he has this mucus surrounding his pancreas, his pancreas isn't able to do that. So every time he eats food, he has to take enzymes in the form of a pill.

which it's actually amazing that he is four years old and can swallow three very large pills at the same time, just because he's been doing this for so long. I can't swallow three large pills at the same time, but he can.

That part is amazing. So before he eats, we have to kind of figure out what is he eating? How many pills does he need to take because his pills are based on

what he's eating. So how much fat specifically is something we look at. So the more fat he eats, the more pills he needs to take in order to help him break down and absorb that food. for somebody that has cystic fibrosis, if they didn't take those pills, they wouldn't absorb that food. They would have a lot of GI upset, ⁓ possibly have a blockage, ⁓ but they wouldn't be getting any of the nutrition.

from that food. So they would have difficulty gaining weight and having proper growth. So he's doing great because we're so lucky that he has these pills. ⁓ However, we do really need to make sure that he's getting enough nutrition. And when he's a selective eater, which according to my CF mom friends, their kids are pretty selective as well. It makes it a little bit more difficult.

And I did ask a CF dietician at his clinic one time if, it is more common for kids with CF to be more picky or selective. And she said, it seems that way, but we often think it's because of the pressure that that the parent feels around your child eating, right? You know, if we're so worried about.

Sarah Schlichter (11:24)
you want them to get that nutrition

so badly.

Katherine Fields (11:26)
Exactly, exactly. So it feels like they're really selective and maybe there is pressure put on the kids. And I understand why as well. I mean, we make a big deal not to put pressures around food with our kids, but at the same time, my youngest will grow up having to know the importance of eating enough, right? And getting enough fat and enough calories.

So it's an added layer into our family dynamic with food.

Sarah Schlichter (11:54)
Yeah, and you know, talking a little offline and this is a genetic disease, so this is something that he was born with. And I'm sure, like many dieticians, we got a little bit of education in this in our schooling, but unless you were working clinical and probably saw a lot of cases, you probably didn't get much. So it sounds like your whole life changed and...

Katherine Fields (11:59)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (12:17)
to adapt, but also how lucky that you have the knowledge that you have with food and nutrition. And is this something that you're calculating like grams of fat each meal to determine how many of those pills he needs to take?

Katherine Fields (12:30)
Yes, so you don't have to. I I do it because I can, right? I have the knowledge. When I first started as a dietitian, I was in the weight loss world for a long time. So you very quickly learn numbers and remember the exchange system, but things that stick. I know that a teaspoon of peanut butter has...

you know, so many grams of fat, like that comes very easily to me. So I am able to look at those numbers. However, a lot of CF parents, they just have maybe a set regimen, you know, every meal take this many pills and then just try to make sure that they're eating a complete meal. It's not perfect at all. It's kind of like maybe a kid that has type one diabetes, they have to take insulin when they eat food, right? And, you know, you could just...

Calculate or you might just have a set dose to make that parents life easier because when you're out at a restaurant For example, you know if a parent has a label at home, they could look and figure out fat But if they're out at a restaurant that's going to be hard, you know for me I'm sure it's not perfect, but I can get there a little bit easier just because of what we do and Also something to consider too is you give the pills before he eats

but what if he doesn't really eat much? So that happens a lot too. I give him three pills thinking he's going to 18 grams of fat on his plate and he eats three bites. So that can be stressful as well. So that's where you're kind of filling in the gaps. So we use organ nutrition shakes. Are you familiar with those like organ kids?

Sarah Schlichter (14:07)
Yeah, the

single serving ones.

Katherine Fields (14:09)
Yes, and he,

thank goodness, loves those. He doesn't like any of the shakes I've ever tried to make him from scratch, but luckily he likes those. And I know, okay, if he drinks that, he's getting another eight grams of fat. Okay, so we're getting there. So it's always a work in progress, ⁓ but we did pretty well.

Sarah Schlichter (14:24)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Katherine Fields (14:33)
there's ebbs and flows.

Sarah Schlichter (14:34)
Right, so fat is the main nutrient you're counting, it sounds like, since that's what these enzymes are helping to break down. So when it comes to protein and carbs, does that affect him more or less, or it's kind of just part of the complete meal?

Katherine Fields (14:39)
Yeah.

It's part of the complete meal for sure. ⁓ If he were to just eat fruit because it's a simple carbohydrate, he does not have to take an enzyme. So that's the one thing he doesn't need to have pills for is fruit. But if he was having like a more complex carbohydrate, he would need to take pills. But again, we're basing those pills off of fat, right? So what I try to do is let's say he was just having pretzels. I always try to pair something with it.

that does have a little bit of fat, first of all, because he's taking this medicine, but also it's more complete, right? It's probably going to fill up his belly longer. So thinking, adding some hummus to those pretzels, or if he's just having fruit and I want him to get a little more nutrition in there, that's when maybe we do a little bit of cheese.

you know, just trying to make the most of those combinations, which is what I would do for any of my kids, honestly, too. It's a more complete snack, in my opinion,

Sarah Schlichter (15:46)
and that's a great lead into my next question do you have any tips for increasing calories? So there may be many parents out there who may just be in situations where their children are either extremely underweight or maybe they just need to increase calories. Maybe they're very active. Maybe they're catching up on growth, whatever it may

Katherine Fields (15:54)
Yeah.

Sarah Schlichter (16:05)
so do you have any good strategies for increasing calories at a meal?

Katherine Fields (16:09)
Yeah, so back to the fats. What's great about fat is you can have a little bit for more calories, right? Compared to protein or carbohydrates, you just need a little bit to get more calories. So something we do for Ben is I've put chia seeds or flax seeds into a pancake or into a waffle. It doesn't take much and you're getting a nice big burst of calories. You're getting fiber.

You're getting fat and those are the good heart healthy fats. So chia seeds are a good one. Flax seed ground up into a pancake. He never knows it's there, especially him being that selective eater. And the chia seeds, I would also put on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I put it into the jelly and we'd say they were sprinkles and he would think that was cool. like he...

He doesn't eat hardly any vegetables. So I'm like, okay, I'm giving him some fiber here, right? I'm adding some fat, I'm adding some calories amongst other nutrition. Butter, luckily he loves butter. So if parents are looking for an easy way to add some calories in, butter's a great one. You can put butter in a lot of things, right? ⁓

Sarah Schlichter (17:17)
three-year-old

will just like take bites of butter. Like it's on the deep

Katherine Fields (17:20)
So will

Ben. So will Ben. So there are desperate times where, you know, he's had his medicine, we can't get him to eat anything else. And I'm like, you know, would you like this slice of butter here? And that goes right in no problem. It is. And he also takes another medication at breakfast and at dinner that he has to have 10 grams of fat with in order for the medication to be effective. So

Sarah Schlichter (17:25)
you

Better is life.

Katherine Fields (17:48)
Butter is a good, good one for that one. We use that a lot. ⁓ His breakfast is typically like a pancake or a waffle. He doesn't do hardly any protein at breakfast unless he's having a shake on the side. So butter is a way for us to get those calories in and the fat in. We also, you're doing pancakes that are the just add water kind, switch that over to whole milk. That's a good way to add some calories and fat in there.

If they do pasta, olive oil getting added into whatever sauce you're using. We do butter pasta as well for him. My kids love love spaghetti, but he just has butter on his noodles with some Parmesan cheese. But he's he's meeting those calorie needs there. He's a big mac and cheese fan, so that's a good way to add in some extra butter or extra olive oil. You know, you can get calories and.

really quickly with the butter and olive oil.

Sarah Schlichter (18:39)
Yeah, I love the olive oil addition because I think that's

one that people maybe aren't thinking about. oil is very rich in calories and fat, heart healthy fats, but easy to add to things.

Katherine Fields (18:43)
Yeah.

Yes. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. What else would I put olive oil in? I think the pasta is the main one for me. You you just always want to make sure it's something that it's going to mix into and not separate. ⁓ Because if your kid is visual at all and sees that, at least mine would not be all for that. And if you're somebody that makes your kids smoothies, which my other, my older kids would eat,

Sarah Schlichter (19:03)
Yeah.

Katherine Fields (19:11)
And ⁓ I've done this for my middle son a lot. He does a smoothie that has yogurt. Make sure it's whole milk yogurt, right? That way you're getting those extra calories, extra fat in there. And you can, if it's a smoothie that's got a lot of flavor in it, you can get away with adding a little bit of olive oil in that as well. We've done that before too, just as long as you've got flavor in there, right? Frozen fruit, whatever it might be.

You can put the chia and the flax seeds in the smoothie as well for some boosted nutrition. ⁓ Some people might put protein powder in there. What about peanut butter? Peanut butter is a great way or almond butter, whatever it is you use is a great way to add fat and add calories. And luckily my youngest loves peanut butter. So that's a big default in our house.

Sarah Schlichter (19:42)
Mm-hmm.

we use the peanut butter trick a lot too. And I feel like if you are trying to amp up calories or just kind of make snack options more nutritious, similar to you, my youngest is my most selective eater. And, and part of this like here, like I do think it is, you know, developmentally normal. They want to metotinic and as they get older, I do think they get, they experiment more, but in the phase when you're in it, it is very challenging to be like, well, you said you wanted that or you ate that yesterday. So we'll do a lot of like,

Katherine Fields (20:07)
Mm-hmm.

Interesting.

Yes.

Sure.

Sarah Schlichter (20:27)
bars with peanut butter. Like I do a chickpea bar actually. It's like ⁓ made with you put chickpeas and peanut butter and I don't know a few ingredients in a food processor and then you bake them into bars and he'll eat those. But my three-year-olds like snacks, snacks, no meals, just snacks. We have to like rename the meals. Here's your large snack. Anything else you'd like to add to it?

Katherine Fields (20:32)
Mmm.

Yes.

Yeah,

that's exactly what happens in our house as well. And you know, we've had difficulty with my youngest with snacks. He tends to hyper focus on things on foods. And for example, his favorite snack in the whole world is Pirate's Booty. And I like Pirate's Booty too. Don't get me wrong. He does definitely gravitate towards salty snacks.

foodie definitely has that salty taste. And something with people with cystic fibrosis is they lose a lot of salts via their sweat more than you and I would. So they do tend to crave and like salty foods. So when he was a baby, we used to give him a little bit of salt into whatever he was having. Now he just eats so many salty foods that we don't do that. But it was to the point where if...

I let's say bought the Costco size box of the mini bags of Pirates booty. He would not eat anything else if he knew that was in the house like hunger strike or Pirates booty. was just so we just don't buy it. And if we do if him and I are at the grocery store together, I might, you know, say, okay, we can get the small bag. But when that's done, it's done. And I

and you know, not restrictive on food, but I also, you know, realized I'm the parent and this is totally affecting, you know, his nutrition by having this in

And you know, it's been that way with some other snacks as well. But Pirate's booty is the one for sure that stands out. you just have to have to put the kibosh on just having certain things because he just hyper focuses.

Sarah Schlichter (22:19)
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Katherine Fields (22:27)
And I don't know if that's just a behavioral thing or if that's part of selective eating, but it's interesting to me.

Sarah Schlichter (22:35)
I can mute my side so it shouldn't

think a lot of parents relate to that though, like, well I want them to be neutral towards food or I want to let them choose what they want to have, but to your point, you're the parent, you decide what is served and then they can decide how much to eat.

If it's up to them, they will only choose pirate booty at every meal. And you know that's not gonna nourish them developmentally. So I think that's a great point for parents to remember. mean, that's kind of the Ellyn Satter, the division of feeding that we choose what to serve.

Katherine Fields (22:55)
Right.

Exactly.

Exactly, exactly. have to have boundaries and you have to stay strong. You're doing the best thing for your child, whether they're fighting you on it or not. when Ben was a baby, he would eat a ton of avocado, which we just thought, this is wonderful. You know, he's getting the fats in. So if your kids like avocado and you can put that in somewhere, I mean, that is a really great way to boost up calories.

Hummus and hummus I love because you know now you're getting some fiber, you're getting some protein, your carbs, your fat, all of the things. So I am lucky that he will eat that. And then condiments. He is a huge condiment kid. Sometimes to the point like, you know, have you used a apple bottle of ranch? So we have to sometimes jump in there. And so if

Sarah Schlichter (23:41)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Katherine Fields (23:57)
if you're having trouble getting those calories in and your kid likes a condiment, I think that could be a helpful way too with a meal. Or maybe it might entice them to eat a food that they typically wouldn't eat.

Sarah Schlichter (24:09)
Yeah, yeah, we use ketchup a lot and I'm trying to get them more into mustard just because ketchup has that added sugar sweetness to it. We're trying to kind of switch that out but condiments are a great way. mean ranch can be a great, sometimes we use that as a vehicle just to get the veggies eaten, you know, why don't you dip it in ranch and it helps. So condiments, that's a great point that if you are trying to add calories or fat, they can help.

Katherine Fields (24:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Pretty short.

Yeah, my oldest when he was little to try broccoli, we were like, these kind of look like trees, little trees. And he was into dinosaurs. So it had something to do with that. And he would dip it into branch. And then he's like, I like these if they have ranch on them. And now he's nine years old and he doesn't eat them with ranch. He eats them without. So I feel like that was a great way for it to get started. And if he wants some ranch on them.

now that's okay too but I feel like that really helped him.

Sarah Schlichter (25:06)
Yeah, yeah. So I'm speaking to all the caregivers out there because it sounds like you you have a lot on your plate being the primary caregiver and having to do these calculations and you know having him adhere to taking the pills and then figuring out the dosage and if he's going to eat it. Do you have any tips for other moms who may be the primary caregivers for children with chronic disease whether it's type 1 diabetes and insulin or

Katherine Fields (25:32)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (25:33)
or Crohn's or ulcerative colitis or you know any other types that you may be able to help decrease some of the stress or anything that's really helped you.

Katherine Fields (25:37)
Yeah.

I would say if you're going through a point where you're struggling with the food aspect of maybe my child's very limited or if I don't feel like they're eating a lot. What I did for myself at one point when I was really stressed about this is I sat down and made a list of all of the foods that I knew that he eats. Because in my mind I'm like, is it really this bad? Is it really so limited that I need to maybe get some additional help?

because there are options for that too. And I made a list and once I made the list, I saw it and I thought, okay, he eats more than I actually think he does in my head, right? And then I went from there and thought, okay, where can I add in things being, you know, the chia seeds, the flax, all the additional thing into these foods he already eats. So if you're coming from a standpoint of being limited on

what they're getting in or ⁓ needing to add more calories, then go through and make a list. If you still feel like you need more help, this is where registered dietitians can be so helpful, right? If you have a child with ulcerative colitis. And usually with those types of diseases, you're followed by some sort of doctor or clinic.

and they should have registered dietitians there. know where my youngest goes, they do. And if you want to see a dietitian, you can. And that's what that dietitian specialty is in, right? That is their job to work with parents, with children, you know, with these issues, and their job is to help you make the most of their nutrition. Also a support group. cystic fibrosis is actually pretty rare. So there's...

not a ton in the area and I have found a few that are. And I go and have coffee with, one of the moms occasionally and I go to an event with another mom and we do spend the whole time talking about this. Because it can feel very isolating, right? You feel like you're the only person dealing with this and you feel like you're maybe not doing a good job, which I'm sure you are.

but sometimes just talking to somebody else and having them give you ideas as well is just really all it takes to feel more confident about this. I feel like even without cystic fibrosis or diabetes, whatever other disease it might be, raising kids and feeding kids is a stressful thing sometimes, right? They go through stages.

there's ebbs and flows and I'm getting to a stage with my oldest where I feel like it's gotten a lot easier. So I feel like I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it makes me hopeful for the other ones. But you know, just giving yourself some grace, taking pressure off of meal times if you need

to those favorite meals sometimes when you need it, you know, knowing that they're going to eat it, I think is totally okay.

Sarah Schlichter (28:35)
Yeah, I 100 % agree and I have to tell this mantra to myself sometimes too, like it's less important what's on their plate, right? they're here, we're here together, there's a bigger message involved here too. So whether or not they eat the meal, whether or not they try the new parsnip fries or whatever I'm serving, we're still here together and that matters more than, you know, one meal in the scheme of things.

Katherine Fields (28:42)
Mm-hmm.

Great.

Exactly,

exactly. I don't know, trying to make dinner time fun. And I know it's not always that way, especially when you have multiple kids with multiple ages, right? One might be having a meltdown, especially after they've had a long day at school. But, I sometimes set the tone as we're sitting down, like, okay, we're all sitting down together. I try to make a point of

we're not getting right up, we're gonna spend some time talking. Like I feel like I have to narrate these things before they're happening so that they've been said. And we do this thing at dinnertime, which I can't take credit for, a friend of mine does it, where we talk about the high and the low of our day and everybody goes around and that usually leads to more conversation, whether it's them telling us about school, because sometimes they tell us nothing. ⁓ But when they're all like,

Sarah Schlichter (29:45)
Mm-hmm.

Katherine Fields (29:47)
what's the high of my day? And then the next one's like, ⁓ I want to say, I want to say, you know, and then even my youngest who is only in preschool will do the same thing. And he usually says something kind of ridiculous and cute, but I don't know, it just kind of keeps dinner moving and alleviates some of the stress.

Sarah Schlichter (30:07)
We do something similar and I think it's so important to whether you're doing something like that or you have your own family ritual, something that can bring everyone together. Maybe it's something people look forward to, spark that conversation to remind us all it's not just about the food. The food is bringing us together, but there's so much more there as well.

Katherine Fields (30:18)
Right.

Exactly,

exactly.

Sarah Schlichter (30:28)
So before we close out, I wanna hear a little bit more about the scheduling around activities. So do you have some ideas for, let's say they have baseball one night or soccer one night, are you packing a dinner on the go? Are you packing snacks? Are you doing early meal, late meal? Cause I've tried all of those things. So curious to hear what's.

Katherine Fields (30:49)
Yeah, we

do all of those things, depending on the timing and if my husband and I are dividing and conquering. Usually my kids come home from school, they get off the bus around four and they come home pretty hungry anyway, to the point where sometimes they're just going through snacks, and it's like, hey, why don't we just move dinner up? Which we've done.

but on the days where practice is at, I don't know, 530, you you're cutting it close there. So we might just eat dinner early and then they almost have a second dinner when we come home. Those are the days that I'll try and do a crock pot, something or other. A big hit in our house is white chicken chili, minus my youngest. But my oldest, they love that. So that's something they can come home, get a bowl of out of the crock pot. ⁓

we'll have that before practice. And then when we come home after practice, and my husband hasn't actually eaten at home yet, then we'll sit down with him. He gets a bowl and they usually end up getting a second bowl or something like that. in a pinch, it might be a frozen pizza that's thrown in the oven with salad right before we go to.

a practice and then we come home and maybe eat the rest of it or have some sort of maybe big snack plate, right? My kids do better with eating good snacks when I make a cheese board or something for when they get home from school. could be fruit, ⁓ peanut butter crackers where I just take crackers and put peanut butter on them.

And then I feel like at least they've had a big snack and then we can push dinner a little bit later for when we get home from practices or games. Now there are the few games that have gone to like 8.30 at night, which is crazy when you have all these kids. you know, those are the things we're definitely eating before or I'm packing something to take. And if it's packing,

It might just kind of look like their school lunch, right? It might be a sandwich, some hummus packs. do a thing of like cut up carrots and celery, some apples, things like that. And I mean, that also keeps the ones that aren't playing in that sport entertained at the time, Because that's a hard part of it too. ⁓

Sarah Schlichter (33:01)
Yeah, yeah, they

need to be fed too. And if it's after like the normal time, you don't want them getting too hangry. So yeah, I like that tip. mean, we, we are similar.

Katherine Fields (33:07)
my gosh. Yeah, no, no.

Yeah, nobody, nobody wants the hangry. And I mean, there's been times where we've eaten, we're only going to be gone an hour and a half. So I not taken anything because I'm like, they can go an hour and a half without snacks. And then it just kind of blows up in my face. So there's always some sort of snack bag, even if it's not a meal bag going with us as well. And something I should have mentioned when we were talking about ways to get more calories and fat in my youngest will eat

Sarah Schlichter (33:30)
I'm sorry.

Katherine Fields (33:39)
Perfect bars, have you ever heard of those? They sell them at Costco. Yeah, so they have the small ones and the big ones. And he went through a phase of refusing a lot of foods and the big ones have 20 grams of fat. And for him, that's what he needed in a meal. So we would see what he would eat and then maybe, based off of that, maybe break one in half and give him that. And if he still wanted to eat more, we'd give him the other one. And then I felt like,

Sarah Schlichter (33:42)
and they have built some other ones too.

Katherine Fields (34:06)
I could breathe a little bit, you know, like he, got his, he'll always eat fruits. I'm like, he ate his fruit. Okay. He wouldn't touch any of the chicken. He wouldn't touch anything else, but at least, I have this option for him. So perfect bars, the small ones as snacks usually go in our bag a lot too. And they, they don't, they are sold cold, but they don't have to be kept cold. I recently just learned. So that's a good option as well.

Sarah Schlichter (34:32)
That's a great hack. And I think just part of the giving yourself grace, you can rely on packaged convenience foods. Like that's what they're there for. And we are similar, like nights we have stuff, we're going to start basketball soon as well. I'm knowing those nights are just going to be crazier and later. So those might be the nights I do a crock pot meal or I do a frozen pizza and people start to feel guilty about that. But it's like, no, like you are.

Katherine Fields (34:41)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Schlichter (34:58)
intentionally planning that for a busy night because that's a meal and it can be a meal paired with a salad kit or a frozen side and those are fine for busy families and save them for those busy nights if you need to but I feel like we need to stop toxifying them for lack of a better word you know they are they belong on the table and they're there for a reason.

Katherine Fields (35:00)
Sure.

Yeah.

It's...

there's such a stigma sometimes associated with things that are not completely made from scratch. And that, like you said, that is so toxic. I mean, you're feeding your family. a pizza can be very nutritious, right? you have protein, you have fat. there's calories there, which, you know, we need this. Why can't you pair it with a bagged salad on the side? mean, you're feeding your family.

So yeah, definitely not comparing yourself to what you see on the internet. ⁓ That's dangerous as well. And just know that, if you're making an effort to, you know, plan at all, or just make sure your kids are fed and getting, nutritious ingredients, then you're doing a great job.

Sarah Schlichter (35:49)
Thank you.

Yes, very well said. All right, Katie, well, is there anything else you'd like to share or any other tips for parents or just feeding kids in general?

Katherine Fields (36:04)
You

I just think if you're listening to a podcast such as this because you find yourself frustrated or wanting some more tips or just needing help, then I think you're doing a great job, You're trying to learn more. I've learned the podcast, one of the ones I listened to by you was the dietician, was her name Sally, where she grew up as a selective eater, right?

Sarah Schlichter (36:25)
you're on

Yeah.

Katherine Fields (36:38)
That was eye-opening for me and I just think gave me some more empathy for people that struggle with eating different foods. Hearing it from an adult's perspective, the way she said it was interesting. ⁓ kudos to you for doing something like that. I think it can help us relate a little bit more to some of these kiddos. So I'm really glad you did that.

Sarah Schlichter (36:53)
Mm-hmm.

Oh, thank you. I'll link that one in the show note. That one is a really popular one. And I think it's because so many of us relate as parents, like whether we went through that growing up or we just have kids who are very selective and we don't know how to support them. So hearing from a dietitian who was quote unquote picky, very selective, still is to this day. But, you know, hearing from her point of view, how certain words affect her or how

Katherine Fields (37:04)
Yeah.

Right.

Sarah Schlichter (37:27)
black and white thinking can impact these kids. So yeah, that's a great listen that we'll link below for people if you haven't heard that one yet. And Katie, tell us how listeners can find you if they want to learn more about your journey or your work or even the support and how you're dealing with, again, you know, all of the demands and pressure on you for for certain disease states, I guess.

Katherine Fields (37:34)
Awesome.

Well,

I don't have much of a social media presence. I'll be the first to admit that. do, if you're in Maryland, I do work for Frederick Health and I do see patients in the state of Maryland. So you can find me through the, what's our website? The A &D website, right? Yes. Yeah, you can find me through there.

Sarah Schlichter (38:08)
Mm-hmm. the fine dietician tool or...

Katherine Fields (38:12)
You even Google my name, it does pop up. But I do, I need to have more of a social media presence so you can see my journey, right? ⁓ Thanks to come, Sarah.

Sarah Schlichter (38:20)
Your hands are pretty full, so there's... Yeah,

but you are a great resource. I mean, thank you for sharing your experience. And again, for parents, if you are navigating cystic fibrosis and don't know where to turn, katia is a great resource. And the fact that it is so rare can be hard to find sound advice.

Katherine Fields (38:34)
and I am happy to talk.

Yeah,

absolutely. And I'm always happy to talk to anybody that, has a shared experience or needs more ideas or just some support.

Sarah Schlichter (38:48)
Yes. Well, thank you so much for your time. I know you're busy and we appreciate it and hopefully we'll see each other soon.

Katherine Fields (38:56)
All right, sounds good. Thanks so much for having me.